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| Jesse Woo |
War. War has changed.
04.14.16 - 1:27 PM
Spike Chunsoft's Grand Kingdom places players at the helm of a mercenary troop that must navigate a massive conflict raging across an entire continent. Of course, to come out victorious they must employ a variety of troops with various abilities. Classes break down into four types: melee, magic, ranged, and specialists. Melee, magic, and ranged units have a rock-paper-scissors relationship to one another when it comes to strategy and formation.
Melee units attack at close range and have high attack and defense, but low magic defense. They also have a guard ability that will negate damage up to a certain threshold.
- Fighter: The Fighter is the well-rounded grunt, the heart of any army with a variety of useful skills.
- Lancer: Lancers use their spears to reach the soft back lines for YUGE damage. They have high attack but low mobility.
- Noble: A powerful soldier who can dish out consecutive hits against groups of enemies. However they lack a shield, which can leave them vulnerable.
- Blacksmith: Wielding a great warhammer, a Blacksmith is most useful when there are enemy objects or weapons to take down.
- Rogue: Rogues can cloak themselves to sneak past the enemy line. They can take out Ranged units in one hit, but must bide their time if they wish to survive.
Magic units attack at medium range and can often hit multiple enemies, but some spells require them to chant for a time, leaving them open to interruption by ranged units.
- Witch: Witches excel at large AoE spells, but they must be careful not to hit their allies as well.
- Shaman: Shamans cast curse at the expense of HP, but these spells do not distinguish between friend and foe.
- Arcanist: The most precise and accurate magic user, who can also cast support spells over the entire battlefield.
Ranged units hit hard from the back lines and can interrupt magic users, but their low defense makes them vulnerable to anyone who manages to hit them.
- Hunter: A long-range sniper that can hit anywhere on the battlefield, and who also carries a variety of subtle tricks to gain the upper hand.
- Gunner: Gunners can hit entire rows of enemies and swap out ammunition for different effects, but guns and ammunition are a new and rare technology which must be used sparingly.
Specialist have unique abilities that can change the tide of battle, but don't really belong with any other type.
- Medic: The essential healers who can use use poisons and acids to go on the offensive.
- Challenger: A reckless explosives expert who likes to toss powder kegs at the enemies, but who can blow himself up too if he's not careful
- Dragon Mage: Dragon Mages can lob magic attacks from the rear or hop onto their dragons to get up close and personal. These units occupy two spaces in a formation to compensate however.
Grand Kingdom comes out on the PS4 and Vita on June 21 in North America and June 17 in Europe. Check out several new screenshots and character art in our updated gallery, linked below!
